New satellite images show that North Korea has deployed what seems to be balloons alongside its damaged warship of 5,000 tonnes which was on the other hand and partially overwhelmed since a sloppy launch last week.
Although the goal of objects is not clear, the experts told CNN that they could be used to help put the ship back in the vertical position or protect it from the prying eyes from drones.
The destroyer struck was the most recent warship in the country and was to be a triumph of the ambitious North Korea Naval modernization effort. Instead, a dysfunction of the launch mechanism of May 21 prematurely slides the stern prematurely, crushing the parts of the hull and leaving the arc blocked on the channel of ships, reported the KCNA state media, in a rare admission of bad news.
The North Korean leader Kim Jong Une, who witnessed the failed launch in the northeast city of Chongjin, called him a “criminal act” and ordered the country to quickly repair the ship not yet named before the plenary session of the end of June of the Party of Power Workers, calling it a question of national honor.
Since then, officials have rushed to cancel the damage and punish those they claim to be responsible, Have four people In recent days, including the chief engineer of the shipyard.
Analysts say it seems that balloons are used in North Korea efforts to quickly repair the destructive.
“It seems that what seems to be balloons has been installed so as not to add to the ship, but to prevent the ship from flooding more,” said representative Yu Yong-Weon, a legislator of the South Korean National Assembly and military analyst.
United States Navy Retired CPT. Carl Schuster said that if the objects are indeed balloons, they could have one of the two objectives – either to prevent “recognition of drone from low to medium”, or to reduce stress on the part of the ship still failed on the pier.
“This is the area that is most likely to have been damaged, undergoes the most serious damage and remains under intense stress while the front area remains out of the water,” he said.
Nick Childs, the main stock market for naval forces and maritime security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that North Korea could be in danger of damaging the ship more if it uses balloons to keep it afloat or raise it.
“It is very likely that the ship will be in much stress anyway,” and the statement from above could worsen these constraints, he said.
The normal procedure would be to obtain as much buoyancy as possible in the ship, then to raise it from below, said Childs.
According to satellite images shared by Maxar Technologies, more than a dozen white balls are deployed around destroyer since May 23.
Based on the shape of the objects and what seems to be tail fins, this could be smaller versions of what is known as Aerostat aircraft, balloons with a slight resemblance to the leaders, CNN told defense experts. Like leaders, the directions obtain the buoyancy of a lifting gas which allows them to float in the air or in the water.
The images do not seem to show flood bladders supporting the shell or the body of the ship, said Schuster – something that the United States could use in such a situation. He added that the North Korea maritime industry may not be advanced enough for such techniques.
The North Korean state media had previously pointed out that the damage was less serious than the fearing initially, and that there were no holes in the hull, although it was scratched along the side and that sea water had entered the stern. The estimated repairs could take around 10 days – although analysts are skeptical.
Schuster had previously declared to CNN that the repair work could take up to six months, depending on the expanses of the damage caused by the hull, the amount of water entered the warship and the amount of “salt crust” could have formed on metal surfaces such as the joints.
The precarious position of the ship also makes the recovery operation unusually complex. “Having it half and a half water is essentially the worst situation possible,” said Decker Eveth, an associated research analyst at CNA, a non -profit organization specializing in defense research.
He added that the operation would be simpler if the ship had completely capsized in the water, or if it had fallen entirely on earth. “But as it is half on earth and half on the water – if you try to remove half overwhelmed, you risk twisting and breaking the keel,” said Eveth, referring to the structural spine flowing along the bottom of the ship. “And if you do this, the whole ship is unwanted.”
Childs said North Korea may have to cut the ship into pieces, then try to save what it can because the recovery of its current position is an extremely complex task.
“Very often, the only way to clean the platform … is to dismantle at least part of the ship to facilitate the operation, which you have left and to tow it and make a decision that you rebuild or delete it,” he said.
Jessie Yeung de CNN contributed to this report.
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